God calls things that are not as though they are (Romans 4:17). That’s how this world began—he spoke and it was—and how he continues to accomplish his work today. We have no trouble envisioning him with that prerogative. But in our call to be like him, do we have that prerogative too?
By faith, yes. That doesn’t mean we can call into being whatever we want, as though we’re the gods of our own lives. It does, however, mean we can call into being whatever God has designated, either by putting into our hearts or revealing through his Word and his purposes. He commanded Ezekiel to call forth breath into dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-10). He told Abraham to believe in a multitude of descendants without one of them having been born yet (Genesis 15:1-6). And Jesus demonstrated for his disciples on multiple occasions how to speak God’s will and watch it happen.
Many have abused these truths. But in rejecting the counterfeits, we have to be careful not to reject the truth that looks like them. God has endowed his creatures with the ability to speak his will by faith and watch it come to pass. And by his power, things that are not will become the things that are.
